Cabooses for accommodating crew and equipment are well known. Generally such a caboose is placed in back of a train, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 739,304.
A U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,869 relates to a railway home car and vacation train system and includes a multi-level car with viewing windows above the floor plane.
A U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,434 discloses a locomotive with an enlarged cab having split level sections for accommodating an engineer and other members of the train crew.
None of the patents mentioned above disclose a lead or Head End Car propelled by a locomotive or other propulsion means and none provide the advantages of the present invention, as will be described.
Cabooses have high crew accident rates and their elimination is part of many national labor agreements. Locomotive cab environment is generally unsatisfactory, and limited in the number of crew members it can accommodate.
It is known that locomotives are conventionally very noisy and involve crowded working environments which tend to undermine concentration and operating efficiency of the engineers and other crew personnel. These conditions tend to impair the safety in the entire train operation.
Modern locomotives have been generally designed to place the operator cab out in front of the power units in order to provide the best visibility for drivers. However, this has a disadvantage. of providing little crash protection for operating crews.